Kazuo Umezu, artist of the manga “School Carried”, died at 88

One of the faces of manga culture has disappeared. Japanese cartoonist Kazuo Umezu died on October 28 from cancer at the age of 88, the Japanese press reported on Tuesday.

An eccentric character recognizable by his red and white sailor top, Kazuo Umezu was considered a key figure in horror manga and an inspiration for artists in the genre. In France, the public knows him mainly for his work “L’École éclairée”, translated into French in the early 2000s.

Sacred at the Angoulême festival

“Umezu wanted his work to be known throughout the world, and to be read forever. He believed in the intrinsic artistic value of these works. May this inspire you,” his company Umezz said in a statement.

In 2018, the mangaka received the Heritage Prize at the Angoulême Festival for “I am Shingo”, a series in six volumes where we follow the confrontation between two children and a robot who awakens to consciousness.